Search techniques are the cornerstone of information retrieval in many different information-distribution environments and problem domains. For example, search methods based on card catalogs and the Dewey Decimal System provided the foundation for library research for many decades prior to the advent of cheap personal computers. For a significant period of time, dial-up information systems were the primary searching tool available for scientific and medical researchers. Currently, Internet search engines are among the most frequently used and highest-revenue-generating tools provided on the Internet, and electronic searching is being incorporated into an ever-increasing number of different electronic devices, from automobile navigation systems to cell phones.
One increasingly widely available information-retrieval method offered to users of various electronic devices involves locating points of interest (“POIs”) with respect to a user's current location, as specified by the user or as detected by global positioning services (“GPS”) devices incorporated into the electronic devices, including automobile navigation systems, cell phones, personal digital assistants, mobile personal computers, and other electronic devices. FIGS. 1A-C illustrate and example of currently available location-based POI searching. In this example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the user's current location is indicated by a graphical object 102 superimposed on a street map. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, a radius 104 with an endpoint coincident with the user's current location specifies a disk-like search area 106 within which the user wishes to locate points of interest. The radius 104 may be specified by the user or may be a default distance value incorporated into the location-based POI search system. As shown in FIG. 1C, the location-based POI search system then finds and displays the locations of a class of points of interest specified by the user. For example, in FIG. 1C, the user has specified, through a text query or through interaction with a user interface, a desire to find gift-card shops proximal to the user's current location. The location-based POI search system has located and displayed the locations of three gift-card shops 108-110. Although the display formats, query inputs, and other features and characteristics of various location-based POI search systems vary, currently available location-based search systems essentially display a map for a region that includes a user's location and that is annotated with points of interest corresponding to a search query or, alternatively, may provide a list of POIs and corresponding addresses and/or travel directions.
FIG. 2 illustrates the data components of the location-based POI search system described above, with reference to FIGS. 1A-C. The location-based POI search system employs a map database 202 as well as a points-of-interest database 204. These two database components, along with software-encoded logic for receiving, parsing, and executing search requests and displaying search results, enable location-based POI search queries to be fielded from, and location-based POI search results to be returned to, users of a large number of different types of electronic devices, from personal computers to automotive navigation systems and cell phones.
FIG. 3 is a simple control-flow diagram that illustrates logical steps executed by a generalized, currently-available location-based POI search system, such as the location-based POI search system discussed above, with reference to FIGS. 1A-C. In step 302, a location is received from a user, either specified by the user through a user interface, or obtained via a GPS component or other location-determining component of an electronic device. Next, in step 304, a suitable map corresponding to the received location is searched for, and retrieved from, the map database, and indication of the user's location is superimposed on the map, as shown in FIG. 1A. Next, in step 306, a search query is received from the user. The search query may be typed into a user interface, selected from an icon display on a touch screen, or generated by other, similar means. Then, in step 308, the radius of the search area is obtained or determined. The radius of the search area may be specified by a user, or retrieved as a default value from memory or from a database. Then, in step 310, the POI database is accessed in order to identify relevant POIs and their corresponding locations within the search area, according to the specification of desired POIs represented by the received search query. Finally, in step 312, indications of the identified POIs within the search area are superimposed graphically onto the map and displayed to the user. Many of these steps may be combined together in various types of search systems, and, as discussed above, lists of POIs may be returned, rather than annotated maps.
Location-based POI searches provide great convenience and utility to users of various devices. However, the currently available POI search systems and methods, discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1-3, are associated with a number of deficiencies. First, currently available POI searching generally returns the same results to any user specifying a particular type of search. For example, a location-based search for sporting-goods stores would return the same result to a sophisticated professional athlete or professional team manager who has traveled to a city for an upcoming professional sporting event as returned a high-school student looking for a pair of sneakers close to home. The professional athlete or professional team manager would likely not be interested in general department stores with shoe departments that sell sneakers, while the high-school student likely would not be interested in a high-end store selling professional sports equipment. Moreover, the professional athlete or professional team manager may be willing to travel many miles for a necessary piece of equipment, while the high-school student might be willing to walk or ride a bus to a destination within a distance of no more than several miles from home. POI searches are not well-tailored to particular users, particular user's contexts, and particular user's circumstances, and generally return a large amount of unneeded and unappreciated information, while often not returning results that would be of great benefit to a particular user. For this reason, users of location-based POI search systems, designers and vendors of location-based POI-search software, and designers, manufacturers, and vendors of a wide variety of electronic devices that feature location-based POI searching have all recognized the need for location-based POI searching better adapted to particular users.